Miles Covered (aka Archives)

Foodie Friday!

Ahhh, I’m so excited for Foodie Friday! And I’m so glad I got a tough pace run in this morning because I had an am-uh-zing lunch with one of my besties at our favorite Mexican hole. Yummy! Some of the best tacos in DSM, hands down! And lunch special is 3 corn tacos plus rice and beans for only $6.50!! 🙂

Now, on to one of my NEW favorite recipes, courtesy of Forks Over Knives! I made this a few weeks ago and it was delicious! Everything is homemade, so no yucky chemicals or preservatives here! I did improvise a bit though for what I had on hand.

To make the filling, steam the potatoes until fork-tender, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Put half of the corn and the broth, soy milk, granulated garlic, and granulated onion in a blender and process on high speed until smooth. Spoon into the bowl with the potatoes. Add the remaining corn and the tarragon and whisk gently. (Whisking gently, rather than whipping, prevents the potatoes from getting gummy.)

To make the cannelloni, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the eggplant on it in a single layer. Brush with the broth and sprinkle with the granulated onion. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn over and bake for 3 minutes longer. Let cool. When cool enough to handle, lay on a flat surface. Spoon one-sixth of the filling on the end of one slice and roll-up. Assemble 5 more rolls in the same fashion (to make 6 rolls in all). Put the rolls in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish, pour the tomato sauce over them, and bake uncovered for 15 minutes.

To make the topping, put the onion and garlic in a medium dry saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted and tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

Arrange the spinach on top of the cannelloni. Serve hot or warm.

Bravo Tomato Sauce

The combination of fresh and packaged tomatoes gives this sauce the right flavor and consistency. If only fresh tomatoes are used, the sauce does not become thick enough.

Put the Roma tomatoes in a blender and process on high speed until smooth. Pour through a strainer to remove the seeds and skins. Set aside.

Put the onion, celery, shallot, and garlic in a large dry saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables and the bottom of the saucepan are browned, about 5 minutes. Add the oregano, granulated garlic, dried onion flakes, and optional red pepper flakes and cook, stirring almost constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in the broth and cook until the bottom of the saucepan is dry and browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and strained Roma tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Decrease the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in the basil. Serve hot. Stored in a sealed container, Bravo Tomato Sauce will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator.

*My improvisations: 1 can of cannellini beans instead of corn (I’m not that big a fan of corn, plus I wanted more protein!) and I topped with kale instead of spinach.

Here’s a little trick to get the bitterness and moisture out of the eggplant before cooking: once sliced, place in a single layer and lightly season with salt. Let stand for a few minutes. You’ll start to notice moisture start to bead up on the top of the eggplant. Using a paper towel, dab the moisture beads up, and start cooking!